A collapsed building. [Photo/BBC]
The National Construction Authority (NCA) has found more than 650 buildings across the country unfit for human occupation.
The findings highlights poor safety standards in Kenya’s booming real estate sector.
Nairobi’s Huruma estate tops the list of areas with dangerous building, having been found to have 388 such structures, followed by Thika Road’s 85 and Pipeline’s 65.Other city estates with structurally unsound buildings include Babadogo (38), Dagoretti (16), Umoja (18), Nairobi West (9) and South B (5).
Moses Nyakiongora, secretary of Buildings Inspectorate at the Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development Ministry, said the identified buildings need to be demolished.
“We have asked the county governments to issue eviction notices to owners of the buildings,” he said during release of the report on the state of buildings in the country.
The majority of the 4,879 buildings that were inspected and found to be structurally unsound are in Nairobi Kisii, Kitui and Athi River.
The Buildings Inspectorate conducted the audits in high-risk towns, including Mombasa, Kisii and Kisumu following a recent upsurge in the collapse of buildings.